Supreme Court to rule on violent video game regulation

WASHINGTON (AFP) – The US Supreme Court on Monday accepted a case on whether the state of California can forbid the sale or rental of violent video games to minors.

In 2005, California approved a law banning the sale and rental of violent video games to children under the age of 18, and ordered game makers to post explicit warnings on such games.

The law was quickly challenged, and was overturned by a lower federal court and again on appeal in February 2009 on grounds that it restricted freedom of expression.

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has now appealed the case to the Supreme Court.

Earlier this month, the Supreme Court cited free speech protections in overturning a law banning images of animal cruelty, reversing a sentence against a man who sold videos of pitbull dog fights that he had not himself organized.